By 11th grade, I leaned out a little because I had a growth spurt.
At that point I was in size XL, says DiBiase.
When she went away to college in 1999, she gained a lot of weight.
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She was also diagnosed with depression during her first semester.
I was really having difficulty with my mental health, she says.
As she navigated her mental health, she continued to work on losing weight.
During her junior year, she lost 40 pounds on the Atkins diet.
But gaining and losing weight became a vicious cycle from that point forward.
For me, its keeping the weight off thats an issue, says DiBiase.
In 2012, she underwent bariatric surgery in hopes of keeping weight off.
To prepare for surgery, she lost 40 pounds.
After surgery, she lost an additional 40 pounds.
That is a sub-par result.
Many people usually lose 100 pounds in the year after surgery, she says.
I put everything into this and followed all protocols.
For me, all the effort and resources I poured into this was disappointing.
Serotoninis a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate mood and emotion.
I got results immediately, she says.
I constantly had food noise in the background around when can I eat again and preoccupation with food.
It is possible that people can become clinically depressed or even have suicidal thoughts, he says.
Patients and their families should be counseled that if this were to happen, they should seek immediate treatment.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor.
If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
They may also have newfound motivation and confidence.
People realize if they can lose weight they can do anything!
They quit a bad job, or assertively request a long-earned promotion.
Therefore, some improvements in self-esteem may come from experiencing lessweight-based discrimination, she says.
Plus, she is happily married.
People shouldnt have to fit into a societal standard to experience improvements in self-esteem.
Today, she saysinteractions are different because of her weight.
However, instead of being mad or annoyed, she takes a practical approach.
I realized people are attracted to who they are attracted to.
This is sometimes referred to as phantom fat syndrome or ghost fat.
Because her weight fluctuated over the years, she had a closet full of clothes in different sizes.
It was really unsettling in a way.
Her feelings are common, says Lazarus.
DiBiase was able to recognize that what she was seeing was not reality.
Alenina, Klempin F.The role of serotonin in adult hippocampal neurogenesis.Behav Brain Res.
2023;130(1):301-316.
